The Empty Sky
by TheStoryFiend
Summary: Rose Tyler works in a bar in a Las Vegas casino, but she's always dreamt of adventure. Secretly, she studies astronomy and space, dreaming of visiting the stars. Then one day, a young astrophysicist named John Smith visits her casino and turns her world completely upside down. (Inspired by the song Counting Stars by OneRepublic.)
1. Chapter 1

Rose knew a potential boyfriend when she saw one. And brown-suit guy definitely fit the bill.

He looked so different from everyone else in the casino's bar she almost had to laugh. She thought she had seen it all, really - poor people pretending to be millionaires, middle-aged tourists losing money left and right, drunken bachelorette parties, drunken bachelor parties, drunken wedding parties, drunken people about to go get married to strangers, card sharks, idiots who have no idea what they're doing - you can always categorize the people who come to visit Las Vegas. But this guy was different. He came in quietly and walked sedately over to the bar, eyebrows raised above his dorky but strangely adorable glasses, seeming a bit bemused at all the noise and chaos around him. At first Rose dismissed him, continuing on with her work of greet a customer, flirt a bit, make the drink, flirt a bit, get the next customer. But as she worked her way down the counter she found her eyes drawn more and more to the odd, quiet man in the brown suit and nerdy glasses.

When she finally reached him, he beamed up at her.

"Hello," he said. Something about his gorgeous English accent and the absolute sincerity of his smile surprised a genuine smile out of her in return, instead of her usual lasciviously flirtatious one she put on for male customers.

"What can I do for you?" she asked, conscious that she was blushing but hoping that the bluish strobe lights from the nearby dance floor would cover it up.

"Don't suppose you have tea or coffee, do you?" he inquired.

Rose threw back her head and laughed.

"God, no. How green are you?" she asked. She could see his embarrassed blush even in the terrible lighting. Immediately remorseful, she patted his hand and said, "Give me a moment. I'll take you somewhere they have what you're looking for."

She went into the kitchen/supply room behind the back wall of the bar.

"Wilson?" she called, hanging up her apron and looking for the night manager. "Wilson, I'm going home. Shareen is already out at the bar."

"G'wan, Rose, do what y'want," came his reply.

"I always do," she said cheekily, slipping out again.

Brown-suit man was sitting where she had left him, waiting patiently. Rose came out from behind the bar and beckoned to him.

"Come on, she said, taking his hand and leading him through the crowded club.

"But don't you have to work?" he asked, fighting to be heard above the boisterous customers.

"Nah, my shift's over," she replied as they reached the doors and pushed out into the bright lights and chilly November air of the Strip.

The bustling road, crowded with casinos and burning with neon lights, lit up the night sky, extinguishing the light from the stars. Rose would never admit it to any of her friends, but every day at the end of her shift she would go out, look into the sky, and mourn the damage done by light pollution. She missed the stars.

"So where are you taking me?" the man asked.

"There's a diner that none of the tourists go to. It's out a ways - bit of a hole in the wall, really - but it's worth it." A thought occurred to her. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Smith," he replied, holding out his hand for her to shake. "John Smith - well, Doctor John Smith, technically, but you can call me John if you like."

Rose looked him up and down. "You don't look much like a John," she decided. "You look very much more like a 'Doctor'."

"Just 'Doctor'?" he asked, then shrugged. "I rather like it. 'The Doctor'," he repeated, adjusting his tie and looking just a bit smug. "Very dignified. And what should I call you?"

"Rose Tyler," she told him as they turned a corner.

"Nice to meet you, Rose," he said.

They walked along for a while in silence, but it was a companionable silence, not an awkward one. It had been a while since Rose had felt comfortable just walking with someone. Shareen usually filled the air with incessant chatter, and Rose's mum was even worse. But this Doctor fellow seemed to enjoy just being quiet.

"Where in England are you from?" she asked him, purely out of idle curiosity.

"Sort of all over, really," he replied. "I moved around a lot growing up. Mostly near London, though. Where were you born?"

"London, actually," she informed him, much to his surprise. "Lost my accent when we moved here, though, because of my job. My boss told me that no one wants to be served by a barmaid who sounds smarter than them."

John frowned.

"That's unfair, he said, clearly perturbed.

"I'm earning money, though - enough to pay for a place to live and food to eat. If that comes at the price of my accent, well, it's not that important." Rose shrugged her shoulders.

"So why did you move here?" he asked.

"My dad died. After that, my mum just couldn't feel comfortable. We had family over here - my cousin, Shareen, and her parents - so we moved here."

Rose almost didn't want to look at John, but instead of pushing her for more, he just sighed and looked up at the empty sky.

"It's a pity about all this light pollution," he commented.

"Honestly, I think the exact same thing every time I get off work," she told him, relieved by the subject change.

"I just came in from the desert. Out there, you can see millions of stars. It's breathtaking," he told her.

By that time, they had reached the diner, and Rose held open the chrome-plated door for John.

The diner was mostly empty, as the majority of people in Vegas preferred alcohol over coffee at this time of night. The diner itself had been constructed in the 60s or so, back when metal plating and floors resembling chessboards had been all the rage. It was a rather unwieldy-looking building, with teal and silver and pink slapped haphazardly on the walls. It was hideous and tacky - a perfect reflection of the city itself, Rose always thought.

She and John sat down to order.

"What were you doing out there in the desert?" she asked him while they waited for the waitress to appear.

"Research, experiments, all sorts of sciency things. I'm an astrophysicist," he explained.

Rose hadn't thought he could be any more perfect. Apparently she was mistaken.

"Can you keep a bit of a secret?" she asked him, leaning forward confidentially.

"Sure," he promised, looking a bit surprised.

"I've never told anyone - they'll only laugh - but I've been studying astronomy and space in my spare time." She felt herself turning red. "I never graduated. I dropped out. School was never interesting to me, and with my dad and moving and all, I kind of gave up. But space… well, it's kind of amazing."

She wasn't sure why she was telling him all this. '_He's a bloody doctor,'_ she told herself. '_Genius, probably. He's not going to be impressed with you. He's probably thinking how annoying you are.'_

But when she worked up the courage to raise her eyes from the table, she saw that John was beaming at her.

"Oh, Rose Tyler, you are _brilliant_," he said. "What have you been learning about recently? I can probably help."

Encouraged by his enthusiasm, Rose talked and talked about her studies, and when the waitress finally did appear, it took a minute for the pair to even notice.

Several hours and at least two pots of coffee later (John drank a ridiculous amount of it, always with too much sugar and cream), Rose finally had the presence of mind to notice that it was nearly 3 in the morning. John said he had to get back to work in about five hours, so they paid and left.

"Tell you what, Rose Tyler," he said as the walked to the nearest bus stop. "Let's make a deal. You keep a lonely old doctor company by meeting me in this diner every day, and I'll teach you about space."

"Are you really bargaining me into going on dates with you?" she teased him, and was gratified by a red flush on his cheeks.

"Not _dates_, I -" he began, but Rose shushed him.

"Here. Let me give you my number," she said, pulling a pen out of her pocket and scribbling a number on his arm. "Call me whenever."

The bus pulled up and they bid each other farewell.

**"See you!" Rose called, and began her walk home, smiling to herself.**


	2. Chapter 2

John called her almost before she was inside her apartment.

"Hello. Um, it's John."

"Yes, I can tell." She smiled. His accent was very distinctive.

"Just wanted to make sure I did indeed have the right number."

"You do." She set down her bag and flopped on the couch, conscious that she should be getting some sleep now but not caring.

"So, er, when do you want to meet? Tonight, I mean. As in, o'clock. At the diner."

He was just so adorably awkward.

"I get off work at eight," she said, stifling a yawn. She didn't do a very good job of it, though, for immediately he began to apologize.

"I'm so sorry, I'm keeping you up," he said remorsefully.

"Oh, it's okay," Rose said through another yawn. A pause ensued that neither one of them seemed to want to end.

"Well, you should be getting to bed, and I have work to do and.. things," John said finally.

"Yeah. See you later, Doctor," she responded.

"Goodbye, Rose Tyler," he said, and hung up with a click.

With bleary eyes, Rose changed into pajamas and dragged herself into bed. and if she dreamed about a certain young astrophysicist, she didn't remember it in the morning.

At eight PM sharp, Rose threw off her apron as fast as she could, yelled to Wilson that she was leaving, and made her way outside. John was waiting for her, wearing the self-same pinstriped suit and camel-colored coat as the day before.

"You look nice," he said by way of greeting, holding out his arm for her to take.

Rose snorted.

"I look like I got three hours of sleep last night and had to deal with a lot of drunk customers at work," she sighed, rubbing her forehead where a headache was beginning to develop.

"Thank you for rescuing me," she added, taking his arm and drawing close.

"My pleasure, Rose Tyler," he responded gallantly.

"So how did your day go?" she asked him.

"Well enough, I suppose. This project I'm working on is a bit complex."

"Oh, a project? Tell me more," she prompted him, half-flirting, half-intrigued.

"Mmm, it's a secret. I'll tell you when I'm finished," he promised.

"Oh, a man of mystery!" she sighed dramatically, miming swooning into his arms. "You think you're so impressive!"

"I _am_ so impressive!" he protested, all mock indignation.

Laughing, they made their way into the diner and sat down. This time, the waitress was slightly more prompt.

"Pot of coffee, please. With cream," John ordered.

She brought them a jug of cream almost as big as the pot of coffee.

"Ha! See? She thinks so too! You put an excessive amount of cream in your coffee!" Rose exclaimed triumphantly. The waitress gave Rose an understanding smile.

"My husband's the same way," she told her before walking away and leaving the pair to blush a bit at the implication that they were married.

"So!" said John, dispelling the awkwardness with a clap of his hands. "What shall we talk about tonight, Rose Tyler?"

"Black holes," she requested.

"Straight into the heavy stuff, huh? All right." He poured them both cups of coffee, unashamedly filling half of his with cream and copious amounts of sugar. "Here we go…"

It became their nightly routine - Rose would get off work, John would meet her outside, and together they would walk to the diner, drink coffee, and talk. Sometimes John would teach her about space and all it's wonders.

"Did you know there's a galaxy named after you?" he asked her once. "The Rose Galaxy. It's breathtaking." His wink made her blush.

Usually these lessons would end in him going on a long, technical tangent. He would pull out a dry-erase marker he seemingly always carried with him and scribble complicated equations on the nearest available glass surface. The theories he would ramble on about were far beyond her grasp of math and science, so Rose would lean back and smile at his enthusiasm, admiring every move he made. It was usually at moments like that when the waitress would appear to replace their usual pot of coffee and jug of cream, giving Rose a knowing look and conspiratorial wink before walking away, leaving Rose with a flushed face.

"Why are you blushing, Rose? Did I miss something? Is antimatter suddenly risque?" he asked one time. There was a certain look in his eyes that made her wonder if he really was clueless.

"Oh, no," she said airily, "I'm just terribly impressed by your expertise. Teach on."

He jumped back to his equations with a will, Rose gazing fondly at his back as he wrote and talked a mile a minute.

Other times, they would talk about their personal lives. Rose mostly took the lead here, telling endless tales of her family's quirks. To be fair, John talked his fair share as well - before coming to Nevada, he had traveled extensively. He would often amuse Rose and the waitress (whose name, they eventually found out, was Dana) with impressions of people he had met on his trips. The diner, almost always empty except for the three of them and the staff in the kitchen, rang with laughter.

Rose was never able to get much in the way of backstory out of John, though. Whenever she asked him about his parents or childhood he would neatly sidestep the question and change the subject.

But the real mystery was his work. Time and again Rose would try to wheedle information about it out of him, and time and again he would evade her.

"Later," he'd promise. "I'm not done with it yet. I'll tell you when I am."

Finally, on New Year's Eve, Rose stepped out of the casino to find snow in the ground and John waiting for her in an old blue Honda Civic with a peeling paint job.

"The epitome of class, you are," she told him with mock disapprobation as she slid in.

"'Epitome'? Well, I'm glad you get some educational benefit from my rambles," he tossed back, starting the ignition.

"So where are you taking me? And more importantly, will we be back in time for the New Year's Eve party my mum's throwing and you are not-optionally invited to attend?" she asked as they drove off.

"In regards to your second question, don't worry, we'll be back in plenty of time. I have a healthy respect for your mother." John had met her twice before. They were memorable experiences, to say the least.

"And the first?" Rose held her cold hands in front of the nearest vent.

"It's a surprise," he responded, the smile that Rose had come to call the I'm-so-impressive smile on his face.

Despite him being monumentally awful at driving, a fact Rose was not shy to point out, the pair reached their destination in one piece.

The destination itself was a large building, almost like a plane hangar. Rose was burning up with curiosity.

"Close your eyes. No peeking," he instructed her, taking her hand.

Rolling her eyes beneath her closed eyelids, Rose followed him in.

"Can I open my eyes now?" she asked as she felt him leave her side to close the doors.

"Hold on… Just a minute… okay." John returned to her side. "Open your eyes."

Rose opened them, and saw… a wardrobe, tall and boxy and blue.

"What is this?" Rose was utterly perplexed.

"This, Rose Tyler, is what I've been working on all this time," he said proudly.

"What, a cabinet?" she said disbelievingly.

"That's just the outside," he assured her. "The inside - well, let's just say it's pretty incredible. Think of it as the wardrobe to Narnia."

Rose couldn't help smiling at his dorkiness as he strode over to it and threw open the doors.

"Come on, look inside," he invited. Rose peeked in cautiously. There were rows upon rows of glowing buttons, levers, and switches.

"What do all these do?" she asked, stepping inside. Surprisingly, there was room enough for both of them as John followed her in and closed the doors.

"A wide variety of things," he said, beginning to push, pull, and flick them. Rose gasped as the box rocked slightly and began to make a tremendous amount of noise.

"What's going on?" she shouted over the commotion.

"A miracle!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

The noises stopped suddenly and John opened the door, ushering Rose out.

She couldn't believe her eyes. They were in the alley next to her apartment.

"What did I tell you, Rose? Plenty of time!" John, grinning nonchalantly, leaned against the blue box. "All the time in the world, in fact, because not only does this wonderful box travel from place to place - it also travels in time."

Rose burst out in laughter.

"I can't believe it! This is amazing!" she said.

"So am I impressive now?" he asked.

"Oh, most definitely," Rose said, and finally did something she should've done ages ago - reached forward, grabbed his tie, and kissed him.

He was hesitant and gentle, making Rose smile against his lips.

"Happy New Year's," she said softly when they broke apart.

She could practically see the neurons struggling to fire.

"So I take it that you'd be amenable to traveling with me?" he asked when he'd recovered full cognitive function.

"Yes, I'd be perfectly amenable," she said, poking him in the side. "But first, we have a New Year's party to attend."

They climbed the stairs up to the apartment, another pair of lovers with high hopes for the new year.


End file.
